Ubuntu is an open source operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things. It is one of the most popular and fast growing open source Linux Distributions across public clouds and OpenStack clouds. This worldwide popularity is probably due to the user-friendly interface that it provides. Owing to this, a newbie can easily learn to explore the features in Ubuntu

However, if you want to quickly learn to navigate your way around your Ubuntu machine, you must be aware of few important keyboard shortcuts. So, here are 12 handy and very useful Ubuntu keyboard shortcuts you should definitely know to make your life easier:

View File Properties on Ubuntu

One of the most regular tasks that we generally do on our computer is viewing the properties of a file and so we need an easier and faster way to do this

Default: Right click on the file whose property you want to view and then click on Properties

Shortcut: Make sure that the file whose property you want to view has been selected. If not, select the file by just clicking on it. Once you are done Press ‘Ctrl+I’. The file properties panel will open up for you

Close All Windows of an Application on Ubuntu

Although, very merely we need to close all the windows of an application. But this handy keyboard shortcut may sometimes be of great use.

Default: Directly close the application by clicking the cross button on the top left corner of the application window

Shortcut: Press ‘Ctrl+Q’ and all the windows of the application you are working on will be closed

Note: In case you want to close a single window, Press ‘Ctrl+W’

Easily Navigate the Menu Bar Items on Ubuntu

Suppose you are working on an application and need to use its menu to get your job done. You might not want to take your hands off the keyboard and use the mouse to navigate the menu items. Here, this particular shortcut comes into the picture

Default: Drag your cursor to the menu you want to navigate and then click the left mouse button

Shortcut: Press ‘Alt+F10’ to use the menu bar and then use the cursor keys to navigate between various menu options.

This shortcut will help you save a lot of time as the menu items must a lot of use

Minimize All Windows on Ubuntu

This shortcut is very useful when you have a lot of windows open on your computer, and you want to quickly navigate to the desktop

Default: Minimize each window one-by-one(Quite frustrating Right!)

Shortcut: Press ‘Ctrl+Super+D‘ and all the open windows will be minimized immediately.

Quickly Open Trash on Ubuntu

Trash is a place where all your deleted files are stored. Suppose you have several items in your trash. In case you want to make sure that you are not accidentally deleting an important file, the best way to do this is to open your trash and check.

Suppose you have several items in your trash. In case you want to make sure that you are not accidentally deleting an important file, the best way to do this is to open your trash and check.

If you have a habit of using the keyboard without disturbing the mouse, then this shortcut is for you.

Default: Click on the trash icon(a bin like icon) and the trash will be opened

Shortcut: Press ‘Super+T‘ key and the trash will be opened

Spread All Windows on Ubuntu

Spreading all windows allows you to get a bird’s eye view of all the applications that are currently opened

This is similar to the App Expose feature that is common in Mac

Shortcut: Simply press ‘Super + W’, and all the open application windows will be spread out on the screen, so you can see everything that is open on your computer

Delete Whole Words in One Go on Ubuntu

Deleting a long word, by repeatedly pressing the delete key can be quite cumbersome. Also sometimes the choice trick also plays around a lot which adds to our frustration.

However, there is a keyboard shortcut that you can use to quickly delete a complete word.

Shortcut: Place the cursor to the left of the word you want to delete, and press ‘Ctrl + Delete’ to delete the words after the position of the cursor

Show/Hide Hidden Files in File Manager on Ubuntu

If you find yourself editing config files way too often then this shortcut is probably going to help you out

Shortcut: Simply launch the file manager, and press ‘Ctrl + H’. This will toggle the hidden files between the visible/hidden state.

So, now you can quickly find the file you were looking for, and then hide them all back again.

Lock The Ubuntu Screen

Another handy Ubuntu keyboard shortcut to know, especially if you want to work on private mode is to lock the screen in just one go

Shortcut: Press ‘Ctrl+Alt+L’ to lock the screen

Pop up Ubuntu command window

The command window can be considered as the brain of Ubuntu. From here, you can control almost everything on your computer and so an Ubuntu user must know the shortcut to open the command window

Shortcut: Press ‘Alt+F2’

Drag Ubuntu Windows Easily

Suppose you are performing multiple tasks at a time or using references from one window for the other. Placing the cursor accurately on the title bar of the window may seem a tedious task. In such case, knowing this handy shortcut may be of great use

Default: Click on the window title bar and drag it to the new position

Shortcut: Press ‘Alt’ and then click anywhere on the window, and then drag it to the new position

Take a Screenshot on Ubuntu

Taking a screenshot serves very helpful especially when you want to store some evidence. I usually forget the shortcut and take help from the Internet every time I need to take one, but do recommend you to remember it

Shortcut:

To take a screenshot press ‘Printscreen’

To take screenshot of a window, press ‘Alt+ Printscreen’

If you want to take the screenshot of a selected area of the screen, press ‘Shift+ PrintScreen’